On Tuesday, January 10th, Fair Haven Community Health Care’s Site Medical Director of Women’s Health, Kristal Velazquez was invited to WTNH’s Connecticut’s Morning Buzz to discuss cervical cancer awareness and screenings with Co-Host Natasha Lubczenko.
January is known as Cervical Cancer Awareness Month. Cervical cancer is the 4th most common cancer in women, but luckily it is one of the most preventable and treatable. Kristal Velazquez was able to shed some light on this important topic, how it affects people, and to discuss how people can reduce their risk.
Kristal says, “Cervical cancer is just another form of cancer that really attacks the cervix. We know it primarily by the human papilloma virus, (HPV), and prevention really starts when you’re about 9 or 10 years old and you get the HPV vaccines. If you haven’t gotten the HPV vaccines that early, you can get it later on. You can always ask your medical provider to get you those vaccines.”
She adds that there are additional layers of prevention, that start at age 21. “You start getting other screenings, then you get your pap smears, so women, women or people with cervixes, get a pap test every three years, starting at age 21. Then, after 30, if everything is normal, then you can start getting paps every five years, which is nice.”
As part of our commitment to caring for residents in the Greater New Haven community of over 52 years, we want to make sure our patients Get Checked.
To learn more about cancer cancer screenings, visit fhchc.org/cancer.